Week 3

Fasting

John Wesley said about fasting, "Some have exalted religious fasting beyond all Scripture and reason; and others have utterly disregarded it."  In my experience as a United Methodist, it has been disregarded.  

When I hear the word "fasting," I am immediately taken back to my days as a Roman Catholic and Lent.  Each year we would "give up something" whether it be chocolate, sweets, coffee, etc.  Then on Fridays, it was time to give up meat.  It was intended to be a spiritual discipline to prepare us for Easter.  But in actuality, it lacked spiritual power.  In my experience as a Roman Catholic, it has has been misunderstood.

I think that it has been misunderstood in the sense that the focus was about me.  It was about what I was giving up and when I could get whatever I had given up back.  Really though, the purpose of fasting is to grow closer to God.  It is less about self-denial and more about building a closer relationship with God.  So, fasting is a God thing, not a me thing.  First and foremost, fasting is God-centered.

We live in a world of plenty.  When we pull into McDonald's we are asked if we would like to super-size our order.  Food is at our disposal 24/7.  We don't know what it is like to go without.  The idea of denying ourselves seem to be foreign many of us living in the US.  Why would we ever need to fast?

In Luke 4:1-13, we hear the story of Jesus being tempted in the desert.  In verse 2 it says, "where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.  He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry." So Jesus fasted forty days and at the end of his time in the desert, he was hungry.  According to Richard Foster, those who fast for long periods of time experience hunger in the first week, but after that time, the hunger pangs go away.  If that is true, what kind of hunger was Jesus experiencing?  Could it possibly be that after fasting Jesus had an intense spiritual hunger?

Many times, without us realizing it, food and other things (texting, Facebook, Twitter) control us.  We use them almost as medicines so that we don't have to feel.  Think about it.  We eat when we are anxious.  We eat when we are bored.  We eat when we are sad.  We eat so that we don't have to come to grips with our emotions.  When that which controls us is stripped away, we are left with our true selves.  That is when we realize we are hungry for God, just like Jesus was.

So how do we fast?  It is fairly simple.  Find a time that is going to work with your schedule.  It is not a good idea to pick a day of the week if your job requires business lunches and dinners.  After you have found a good time, start to abstain for short periods of time and slowly build to longer periods of time.  For example, you might want to start with fasting one or two meals.  Fill those times when you would eat a meal with prayer.  Also every time your stomach growls, stop and offer a brief prayer.  Allow God to break into your day.  Be mindful of your health.  For some, fasting from food is not a good idea.  For others, food may not control you, so find something else to fast like your smartphone.  However you decide to fast, seek to feast on God.

  

Week Two

Prayer

 Most of us would define prayer as communication with God which it is.  Communication involves both talking and listening.  But it we are honest with ourselves, our prayer lives are more about talking rather than listening.  We approach God as if God is the cosmic Santa Claus.  Yes we employ the ACTS acronym that we learned in Sunday school:

     Adoration (praising God for who God is)

     Confession (admitting our sins)

     Thanksgiving (thanking God for blessings)

     Supplication (asking for needs)

We acknowledge God's provisions for us and we butter God up acknowledging God's sovereignty so that we feel good about presenting God with our Christmas list.  Just like our Christmas lists, we also expect that God will give us what we want.  We TALK, TALK, TALK.  What about listening? 

Prayer is more than mere communication.  It is dialogue.  With communication, we impart information.  With dialogue, we move deeper, beyond the masks that we wear, to the depths of our spirit.  We bear our true humanity to God with all its imperfections.  Richard Foster says about prayer, "To pray is to change.  Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.  If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives."  Through prayer, we see our need to conform to the likeness of Christ.

Prayer needs to be the fabric of our lives as Christians.  In the Scriptures, we read that Jesus got up early in the morning and withdrew to pray (Mk. 1:35).  Jesus was in the middle of his day, and he stopped to pray (Lk. 11:1).  In sum, the Scriptures encourage us to pray continuously (1Th. 5:17) as our goal.  When I think of praying continuously, Brother Lawrence comes to my mind.  In the midst of the washing the pots and pans, he kept his mind on Christ, seeing God in the ordinary.

While most of us are not Brother Lawrence, we can aspire to try to allow God to break into our day.  One of the ways that we can move in that direction is "Praying the Hours."  When I brought up this suggestion at worship, one of the thoughts is, "That's Catholic."  While Praying the Hours is a part of Roman Catholic monastic life, it predates the monastic movement and was adapted from ancient Jewish prayer practices.  One can use the Liturgy of the Hours (a Roman Catholic liturgy) adapted to our Protestant bent.  But I am merely suggesting that we use the model as a blueprint for prayer that is intentionally dispersed throughout the day.  If we commit to Praying the Hours model, we determine set periods of time, 5 mins, 10 mins, etc., and then we withdraw at certain times of the day, 8 AM, 12 PM, 3 PM, etc.  Obviously each of these times can be adjusted to fit your schedule.  And the prayers that you use can be unique to you.  The important thing is to stop and allow God to break into the day.

Before long, we will be like Brother Lawrence -seeing God in the ordinary of the day - and our lives will a living prayer to God.

Week One

Meditation

Many times when we envision meditation in our minds, we conjure up images of a person sitting on the floor  with legs crossed, palms up and chanting UM, UM, UM.  The goal of this type of mediation is to completely empty oneself.  Christian meditation is the discipline of disengaging from the busyness of the world and making space to hear God.  Foster says "Christian meditation, very simply, is the ability to hear God's voice and obey his word."  Instead of emptying ourselves, we are filling ourselves with God.

While this may sound like a very simple task, think about all the noise in our lives.  Foster argues that "In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds.  If he can keep us engaged in 'muchness' and 'manyness.'"  Our lives are so filled with chatter that silence seems like a foreign land.  We don't know how to act in the silence and we become uncomfortable.  We run back to the noise.  Mediation offers an alternative creating a means to learn to embrace silence and seek God.

Practically speaking, for most of us, meditation is going to require trial and error since it is so foreign.   It is okay for our minds to drift.  Keep at it.  The more we engage in meditation, the easier it becomes.  First find a time of the day that works for you.   Second, find a space that is conducive to meditation.  It should be a place that is comfortable but is free from distraction as possible.  Third, select a Scripture to meditate on.  Remember, meditation's purpose is to create space to encounter God on God's terms.  It is not Bible study, so we do not approach Scripture to see what we can learn.  So, read the Scripture SLOWLY and REFLECTIVELY.  We are not reading for information.

If the Scripture is a story, one way to meditate on it is to insert yourself into the Scripture as one of the characters.  Try to imagine with all of your senses.  What do you see?  What do you hear?  What do you smell?  What do you taste?  How do you feel? How did you experience Jesus in the story?

Another way to meditate on the Scripture is Lectio Divina.  Read the text very slowly drinking in each word.  Listening for the still, small voice of God.  When a word or phrase seems to pop out, stop and reflect upon it.  Let it interact with your inter-being.  Insights gained during this time make excellent grist for journaling.

May God Bless You this week as you seek to meditate upon his Word.

For the next twelve weeks I invite you to journey with me as we explore the spiritual disciplines using David S. Young's "A Closer Walk."  Each week we will examine a different spiritual disciple.  On Sunday morning we will learn about the discipline, then we are encouraged to practice it throughout the week.

The purpose of the spiritual disciplines is to deepen our individual spiritual relationship with God.  Ultimately, this will lead to congregational renewal.  My hope is that through this twelve week journey, the disciplines will become part of the fabric of each of our lives. 

Each week we will only be able to briefly learn about each discipline.  For those who would like to learn more, I would suggest that you read Richard J. Foster's Celebration of Discipline which offers extended explanations.  "A Closer Walk" is based upon this book, so it serves as an excellent companion.

I would like to offer this encouragement from Foster as we begin our journey together:
     We must not be led to beleive that the Disciplines are only for spiritual giants and hence beyond
     our reach, or only for contemplatives who devote all thier time to prayer and meditation.  Far
     from it.  God intends the Disciplines of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings:  people
     who have jobs, who care for children, who wash dishes and mow lawns.  In fact, the Disciplines
     are best exercised in the midst of our relationships with our husband or wife, our brothers and
     sisters, our friends and neighbors.

May God bless us as we endeavor to draw closer to God.

Who Is Jesus? (John 5:31-47)

“Because Jesus was doing these things…” begins the next pericope of chapter four and it effectively links what follows to the story that have preceded it.  What things is John referring?  The healing of the invalid at the pool was the story that was done on the Sabbath.  Jesus’ question still rings in our ears…“Do you want to be made well?”  Healing did not come about by the invalid’s own efforts or through other human effort.  It only came about through the healing presence of Jesus Christ.  

But there is a problem.  Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath which incensed the Jewish leaders.  Now if we think about it for a minute, the man had been an invalid for thirty eight years and came daily to the temple waiting his chance to get into the pool.  So why did Jesus heal him on the Sabbath?  He could have just as easily came back the next day after the Sabbath and healed him.  What was Jesus trying to say with his actions?  If we think about the purpose of Sabbath, it was a day that was set aside to rest fulfilling the purpose of the Sabbath.  But the Jewish leaders just saw Jesus breaking the rules and usurping their authority.  Because they were the one who decided what was acceptable work on the Sabbath and what was not.   But the Law was given by God to constitute a peculiar community of faith that was marked by their love of God and love of neighbor.  The Law was interested in creating a whole community that was centered upon the presence of God in their midst; exactly what Jesus was doing.  

Because of the challenge of the Jewish leaders’ authority and referring to God as his father, Jesus is indicted and what continues for the rest of the chapter is a trial motif in which Jesus testifies about himself.  He answers the question, “Who is Jesus?”  And it seems that each pronouncement is followed by a required action.  Jesus as the Christ necessitates a human judgment about Jesus’ claim.  And it is quite apparent that each one of us is going to be judged by our own judgments about Jesus.  

But Jesus goes on in his own defense citing the testimony of others as to his claims.  The first is John the Baptist.  The work that Jesus is doing testifies to the authenticity of his claims as well.  But since Jesus is testifying to Jewish leaders, his final testimony that he puts forth is their very own scripture. He states emphatically that Moses wrote about him.

It is important for John that the readers of his Gospel have a strong Christological understanding of Jesus.  Since the first verse of the first chapter John has been unfolding his theological understanding.  And it is import to John because it is in our understanding of Jesus that we really come to know ourselves and our purpose in life.  If our Christology is erroneous so will our understanding of ourselves. So who is Jesus?  Your very existence depends upon your answer.

Do You Want To Be Made Well? (John 5:1-14)

Do you want to get well?  That was the question.  So what are the possible answers to the question that Jesus posed?  Yes.  No. Or one could also argue that it could be a qualified maybe…I think so if...  But none the less, it was a question that sought an answer.  And based upon the story that John spins, an invalid depending upon the generosity of other for thirty nine years, you would think that the answer would be an unequivocal YES.  But instead of giving the obvious answer, YES, YES,YES, he evades the question with an excuse…I have no one to help me.  He has been an invalid for thirty-eight years depending on the generosity of others.  There were no social welfare programs to provide for his needs.  Further because of his disability, he was not able to be an active participant in the faith community.  All that the invalid could see is obstacles that stood in the way of his being made well.  But instead of Jesus just turning around, he ignores the excuses and tells him to get up and walk.  Jesus does not allow the all the obstacles that the man sees to interfere with his healing.  Jesus wants him well.   

All of us have struggles in our lives that prevent us from experiencing the fullness of life much like the invalid in this story.  Some of them may be physical but for others they may be broken or damaged relationships, unemployment, homelessness, depression, loneliness or isolation.  Whatever the situation Jesus is there asking us, “Do you want to be made well?”  Jesus is not merely asking whether you want to be free from your affliction. 

 At the end of the story where did Jesus find the healed invalid?  He was in the temple participating in the community like he was never able to before.  So Jesus didn’t ask him if he merely want to be healed of his present affliction.  He is asked him if he wanted to be made whole.  Did he want to be an active, vibrant participant in the community of faith?  And Jesus asks us the same thing?  Do you want to be made well?  Do you want to be made whole?  

If we are real with ourselves we see many obstacles in the way of a full and abundant life.   What are some of the obstacles?  I don’t have time.  What is it going to cost me?  What is it going to require of me; because ministry is going to cost something.  It may be money.  It may be time.  It might be my talent or even to reprioritize my life.  I can’t do it.  I’m too old or young.  I’m tired.  I’ve already done my time; it’s somebody else’s turn.  I don’t know how.  We’ve never done it that way before.  And what happens when we put all of these obstacles in our way?  They tend to paralyze us.  We feel stalled.  We feel dejected, frustrated and inferior.  So our obstacles get in the way of who we are called to be.  

But sometimes we feel comfortable with the obstacles that we place in our lives.  Did the invalid like his situation?  Did he really want to be healed?  In some ways showing up every day at the pool with the other invalids was comfortable and predictable.  He may not have liked being an invalid but he knew what life was like and over the years I am sure that he adapted.   But when Jesus asked, “Do you what to be made well?”  He is inviting change.  And for each one of change can be scary.  It can make us nervous because of fear of the unknown.  And obstacles help to keep us in a familiar situation.  

When the invalid is asked the question, his excuse is that other people are unreliable.  There is no one around the pool that will help him into the water when it was stirred.  Or if he tries to rely on his own ability he fails.  He is focused on people for his cure.   But where does his cure come from? Jesus Christ.  The presence of Jesus Christ in his life.  Do you what to be well?  Do you want to have abundant life?  Then the presence of Jesus Christ needs to be at the center of your life.  We don’t really need to fully understand everything about Jesus but we need to rely on him.  The invalid didn’t even know who Jesus was, but in Christ’s presence he had abundant life.  So do you want to be made well? Jesus wants to make you well.

Beyond Miracle Worker (John 4:43-54)

Coming off a two day revival in Samaria, Jesus arrived in Galilee.  It is interesting, that John reveals that the Galileans had heard all that Jesus had done in Jerusalem at the Passover feast and they “welcomed him.”  Remember at the Passover feast Jesus had driven everyone from the Temple as well done many miraculous signs that John did not elaborate upon other than to say that they prompted people to believe in Jesus.  Did they welcome him because of the miraculous signs?  Or did they resonate with Jesus as he reeled against the establishment that sought to distance the people from God’s presence by moving their attention to rules that governed every facet of their lives?  For me, the most interesting part is that they had not seen the stuff done in Samaria nor did they hear about it.  How would they have felt about it?  Would they have welcomed Jesus if they knew that he reached out to despised and hated Samaritans?  After all, these were the marginalized and poor Jewish people.  He came to save them.

John says that Jesus finally stopped to visit in Cana where he heals a royal official’s son.  The story is bookmarked between the identification of the town, Cana in Galilee, and a reminder that this was Jesus second miraculous sign.  I believe that John was trying to link the first miraculous sign, the changing of water into wine, with this second miraculous sign.  When we begin to examine them together we continue to see unfolding of the nature of God’s kingdom.  The changing of the water into wine was done primarily for the disciples.  It demonstrated the nature of the coming of God’s kingdom that was new, abundant, extravagant and transformative.  But this second miraculous sign reminds the reader that the outpouring of God’s kingdom was for all who sought out Jesus Christ and not just his closest friends.  

This encounter also illustrates another facet of the nature of God and God’s kingdom.  The official in the story was coming to Jesus out of a basic need.   While the Scripture does not say it, I would imagine that the official had already exhausted the conventional means of healing.  He went to the pharmacy and tried all the over the counter meds and home remedies.  Then he probably consulted the local doctor, but when none of those things worked he turned to Jesus in desperation.  But with his encounter with Jesus he came away this something else – faith in Jesus Christ.  As his basic needs were met he came to encounter the life-giving love of God.  

The miraculous sign points beyond Jesus as a miracle worker to the very nature of Jesus Christ – the life-giving Word that has come and dwells among us.  The Kingdom of God burst through unexpectedly in the midst of our basic needs of life when we seek out Jesus Christ.